October 2017 CEO’s Report

The Section Merchandise Show is just three weeks away, October 24-15 at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. If you were not with us the last couple of years, this beautiful building is located in Downtown Tacoma and our host hotel,Hotel Murano, is just across the street with 30 restaurants and bars within walking distance! In addition to doing your buying for the year, you and your staff should be able to have a little fun. We open with the Pro-Vendor Invitational at The Home Course on Monday, October 23, the Show runs October 24 and 25 and our Annual Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday morning, October 25. A full education calendar is available and presented below.

The Board is continuing the effort to openly communicate Section programs to all of you so the Annual Meeting will again focus on sharing how the Section fulfilled the Business Plan in 2017. Come early as we open the day with Pelzer Golf Supplies hosting a hot breakfast at 6:30 AM before the meeting begins at 7:30.

We’ve finalized the Education Program in Tacoma at the Merchandise Show. On Monday, Heidi Franz Tremblay will present “Merchandising…..the NORDSTROM Way”. She will share her 35 years of experience to help you and your team be better merchandisers. Plan to also invite your non-PGA staff to this session! Following the Show, we are fortunate to include a presentation by Jared Williams, Managing Director of the Golf USA Tee Time Coalition. His presentation: “Golf USA Tee Time Coalition: What It Is, What It Isn’t, and How To Make It Work For You” will show you how to work with the coalition to ensure you’re getting the most out of your online tee time distribution partnership. If your business depends on your tee sheet, don’t miss this opportunity! You should also invite your owner or GM to this program. Click here for complete details on these two programs.

This Fall is a very busy time for governance in the Section. Chapter meetings are all scheduled and an officer and I will be attending each chapter meeting. Please feel free to ask questions, either during the meeting or in the hall afterwards. We make this effort to speak to you, seek us out.

A big thank you to Tom Davidson and his team at Circling Raven for hosting the PGA Professional Championship last month. Thanks our 119 player field we played for $86,000 this year with Russell Grove capping off a great year with the $9,000 champions check! We visit the always terrific Meadow Springs Country Club next fall….members should put this one on their schedule now.

Responding to your requests, we created a Scotland Pro-Am for 2018 highlighted by Carnoustie just two weeks after it hosts the Open Championship. The other four courses are pretty darn good too! Act fast, we have a short timeline for commitments. Click here for complete information or give Jeff Ellison a call.

Entries are also out for the Holcomb-in One Las Vegas Pro-Am. We return to the Monte Carlo with a new twist, we will stay in the newly remodeled Park MGM rooms – they are very nice – and we’ve added TPC Las Vegas to our course line up! It should be another great week in Vegas. Click here for more information or give Jeff or Molly a call.

The Chapter Awards Committees are hard at work selecting their Special Award winners. If you were nominated, please complete your bio and return it to the Committee. This is not a bio writing contest. Do your best and the Committee will work with you to secure additional information where warranted.

Enjoy the first rains of the season and a short break before you begin planning for 2018. Plan to form a PGA Junior League team, host a Drive Chip and Putt Prep Clinic, develop your own Player Development program and spend a little time on yourself expanding your skill set.

Thanks to all of you, the Section hosted north of 223 PGA Junior League teams and 6 of the 8 kids headed to Augusta from the Drive Chip and Putt Regional at The Olympic Club came through our Section’s qualifiers! I’m happy to report we will be hosting the Regional Drive Chip and Putt at Chambers Bay in 2018 and will also add a third Subregional in eastern Washington so the eastside kids will travel less.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Show and your chapter meeting. Please never hesitate to reach out if our staff in the Section or Chapter offices can help you in any way.